FIVE of the 14 Cathedrals Group universities were ranked in the highest ten for overall student satisfaction within the National Student Survey 2024.
Just under 346,000 final-year students responded to the UK-wide survey, which is run by the Office for Students. The results were published last month.
In 2022, after a consultation, it was agreed that the summative query on overall student satisfaction can be not noted for English providers (it stays with Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish providers). To fill within the gap, Times Higher Education analysed responses to the 26 questions asked of all UK undergraduates for the provider by which they’re taught.
Out of the 149 universities to participate, Bishop Grosseteste University, a former Anglican teacher-training college in Lincoln, was ranked primary for overall student satisfaction: 89.4 per cent of its students recorded a positive experience.
This compared with an overall satisfaction rate of 72.3 per cent.
University of Wales and Trinity St David were ranked joint third within the list: the top-ranked institutions from Wales and Scotland, respectively. Liverpool Hope, Plymouth Marjon, and St Mary’s, Twickenham, were listed fifth, sixth, and eighth; Roehampton and Birmingham Newman were close behind, placed twelfth and thirteenth.
Four other Cathedral Group Universities were ranked in the highest half: York St John, Chichester, Leeds Trinity, and Chester were placed at 51, 54, 55, and 73, respectively.
The questions within the 2024 survey cover seven different themes. Bishop Grosseteste scored highest in 4 of those: learning opportunities, assessment and feedback, learning resources, and student voice.
The University of Oxford was ranked highest for teaching, Plymouth Marjon University for tutorial support, and St Andrews for organisation and management.
In England, 85.3 per cent responded positively to questions regarding “teaching on my course”, compared with 84.7 per cent in 2023; 74 per cent responded positively to questions regarding “student voice”, increasing from 71.9 per cent in 2023; and 79 per cent responded positively to “how well information on their university or college’s mental wellbeing services was communicated”, from 75.9 per cent in 2023.
John Blake, director for fair access and participation on the Office for Students, said: “This 12 months’s cohort of final-year students have experienced significant disruption prior to and through their studies because of a variety of things, including the aftermath of Covid-19. This will little doubt have affected their overall student experience, and the undeniable fact that they’ve been studying under these circumstances is why I’m especially pleased to see that the general figures across the sector mostly match or exceed last 12 months’s outcomes.”
